Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The community engagement and consultation phase of the retrospective Islands Impact Assessment was undertaken by the independent consultant who is drafting the Assessment. Neither HIAL nor the Scottish Government were party to the community engagement and consultation phase of the Assessment.

Timing of the publication of the retrospective Islands Impact Assessment is not a matter for the Scottish Government, however we understand it is excepted to be published in February 2021.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Engagement with community groups was undertaken by the independent consultant who is drafting the retrospective Islands Impact Assessment. Neither HIAL nor the Scottish Government were party to the community engagement and consultation phase of the Assessment and do not hold information on which community groups were consulted.

Neither HIAL nor the Scottish Government are party to the correspondence between the independent consultant undertaking the retrospective Islands Impact Assessment and those that he has been consulting with. Publication of any material submitted is a matter for the consultant with the agreement of those who provided responses.

The figure referenced by the member in the Public Health Priorities For Scotland paper was an estimate provided by one of our third sector partners. It is therefore not a figure that the Scottish Government currently plans to update.

Our Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan, published on 8 October, contains a comprehensive summary of the evidence of the mental health impacts of Covid-19.

We will prioritise to make sure those most at risk are protected quickly, in line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations, as vaccine supply allows.

Over the coming weeks and months we will be sending out information explaining what the vaccine is, how we are prioritising who gets the vaccine and what to expect when vaccinated.

Adult care homes visiting guidance has been kept under review throughout the pandemic as understanding of the virus, general advice and the evidence base continually evolves. The most recent guidance was issued on 17 November. Guidance for care homes on visiting over the Christmas period was issued on 4 December. Guidance on visitor testing has been made available in December.

The information has been placed in the Parliament’s information centre (Bib 62076).

The Air Discount Scheme will continue at the current 50% discount rate until 31 March 2021 in order to continue to make travel for residents of the Highlands and Islands more affordable. It is our intention to continue the scheme beyond 31 March 2021, however that is subject to the 2021-22 Budget process. I will provide a further update following the completion of Parliament’s consideration of the 2021-22 Budget.

The Farming and Food Production – Future Policy Group (FFP-FPG) met again on 27 October to discuss the content of their draft Report and agreed that further work was needed. As an independent Group, it will be for the Group to determine when it is ready to publish.